Door for poultry coops and crates



NOV. 24, 1931. O CARPENTER 1,833,559

DOOR FOR POULTRY COOPSAND CRATES 4 Filed Oct. 22, 1929 F1251; 25' Z6 1 IINVENTOR.

Ose Fdarpenier,

BY MM While, in a manner as hereinafter set forth,

Patented Nov. 24, 1931 eessute OSE I. CARPENTER, 0F BRIGHTWOOD, VIRGINIAnoon non POULTRY Coors AND CRATES Application filed October 22, 1929.Serial No; 401,465.

This invention relates to a spring controlled, latchable slidable,hinged door designedprimarily for use in connection with poultry coop's'and crates, but it is to be under- I 9, stood that a door, in accordancewith this invention may be employed-in any connection for which it isfound applicable, and the invention has for its object to provide, in aman ner as hereinafter set forth, a spring con- 7 m trolled, latchabledoor so constructed and arranged as to enable it tobe released fromlatched position and further having means coacting therewith formaintaining it in closed position when it is unlatched.

'A further object of the invention is to proa spring controlled,latchable, slidable and hinged door provided withmeans whereby thecontrolling spring for the door permanently acts to maintain the door inclosed position,and further to set up a door structure whereby acontrolling spring of increased length and strength can be employedtopre- 'vent the free movement of the door on its hinge, which resultsin the door being normally maintained in closed position. A furtherobject of the invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter'setforth, a slidably mounted hinged door so constructed and arranged as toenable it to be-shifted the full width of the door opening ofthe coop orcrate and whereby a latch of materially increased length canbe-employ'ed for entering the doortransversely of the latter to latchit.

Further objects of the invention are to provide, in a manner ashereinafter setforth, a spring controlled, latchable, slida'ble, hingeddoor for coops or crates which is simple inits construction andarrangement, strong, durable, compact, thoroughly efficient in its use,readily assembled and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture. w Withthe foregoing and other objects'in viewthe invention consists of thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of arts as hereinaftermore specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is tobe understood. that changes, variationsand modifications can be resortedto which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views Figure 1 is a top plan view, partlyin section of a coop showing the adaptation therewith of a springcontrolled, slidable, latchable, hinged door in accordance with thisinvention.

Figure 2 is afragmentary view in longitudinally section of the top of acoop or crate and further illustrating a door installed therewith, andwith the door shown in longitudinal section.

Referring to the drawings 1 generally denotes the slatted top of apoultry coop or crate and which includes a pair of side frame members 2,3, a pair of end frame members 3, 4, spaced, parallel brace bars 5, 6extending from end frame bar 3 to end frame bar 4e'and suitably securedtherewith. The

bars '5', 6 are arranged in spaced relation with respect to the sideframe members 2, 3. Connected to the frame member 2 and extendingthrough the bars 5, 6, as well as being connected to the frame member 3is a slat 7. Connected to the frame member 2 and extending through thebars 5, 6, as well as being connected to the frame member 3 is a slat 8.The slats 7 and 8 are arranged in parallelism and spaced from eachother. Positioned between the slat 7 and the end frame member 3 is a setof spaced slats 9. Positioned between the slat 8 and the end framemember 4 is a set of spaced slats 10. The slats of said sets extend fromthe side frame member 2, through the bars 5, (3 and are connected to theside frame member 3. Arranged between the slats 7 and 8 a series ofspaced slats 11 which extend from the side frame member 2 to the bar 5.Arranged between the slats 7 and 8 is a series of slats 12 which extendfrom the bar 6 and are connected to the side frame member 3. The slatsof the sets 11 and 12 are of materially less length than the length ofthe slat-s of the sets 9 and 10.

The top 1 is provided with a door opening 13, one wall of which isformed by that portion of thebar 5 between the slats 7 and 8 and suchportion is indicated at 14:. Another wall of the door opening 13 isprovided by that portion other 6 between the slats 7 and 8, and such.portion is indicated at Another of the walls of the opening 13 isprovided by that portion of the slat 7 between thebars 5 and 6, and suchportion is-indicated at 16,:and the other wall-of the dooropening 13 isprovided by that portion of the slat 8.

between the bars 5 and 6,and such portionis indicated at 17. The-portion16-ott'he slat? provides a pivot or hingefor the door which is referredto generally by the reference char-.

acter 18. The portion 17 of the slat 18prov vides a combined support"and guide for the Id'O0l' 18n The portion 16 of the slat 7 alsoconstitutes a guidetor the door18.

T The door 181compr1sesa rectangular body portionr19 of greater lengththan the door opening 13, but ofless width than athe' width of dooropening 13 ito'permit of the door 18 being shifted towards; and from thebar 15 :or thebar =6. 'rOne end of the body portion.19 has its innerfa'cerabbeted toform'a reduced extension 20 which slides upon theportion 17 0f 'the slatsr- The body portion .19 iln'fijl'OX-r imity tothe extension 20 is formed witha socket 252 which opens at the sideedge. 22" ot' said-body-portion and is adapt-ed to receive alatchingmember to be presently referred to. Thebody. portion- 19 is furthermorepro- 'vidcd in: proximity to :the socket22 With an opening 23 for thepassage of the wire of, a seal orfor'otherpurposes. Thebody portion 19'iis :also formed with] an opening 2 1 of ,igreaterdiameter than theopening r23iwhich .isiused for the insertion of a-thumb or linger orothermea'ns, for the purpose of shitting body portion 19towardsthebar 5.:Thebody portion =19 -'hasone corner at'its other endcut away wherebythe other. side of said "body- 'portion willwbe =formedrof two sideedgeiportions- 25,-25 the former being of less'length than the latter.Their-edge I portions 25,125

extend inlspaced parallel planes and the :for- -mer ;provides an insetabutment *for a purpose to be: presentlyreferred to.,

' Opening at the other sideiedgeof body portion 19isa socket 25of-material-lygreater diameter than the socket 22and communicating *Withthe .inner end of socket 25 is the -opening 21.- The-bar 5 is formedwith a socket26; which opensv at theinner sideof j such bar .5 i-a-ndlopposes the abutment ,pro-

videdby the. side 'et ge'portion 25. The'bars --5,6 areprovided withopenings 27, 28 respectively for the passage'of the slat 7; v

" The-door 18 at that;endprovidedwiththe ,zabutment is formed with aninwardly extending cutout 34 providing a recess 35. The same-fend ofdoor 18 is :formed with a pair of endwise opposed openings 36,37 whichare .spaced from each other-bytherecess 35. The outer end idfopening 36terminates at the edge portion 25 andtheouter endofopening vn gthedoor'i18in'engagement with thelatc'lr ing rneinber iit); consists of aslat connected to the frame member 3 and extending through'the bar-"6and projecting a substan- -tial-;dis'tance into. the door opening 13.The :inner-end oflthe latehingrmember 30is adapted-toengage in thesocket 22 for' the purpose or" Elatchi-ng v:door 18 in closed. position.

Theg'spring 29 also acts to maintain the door against the bar 6 when thedoor is out ozt engagement with the latching member :30,

under such: conditions-the spring 32' functions 7 to permanentlymaintain the door in closed position with respect'to'the opening 13. Theproviding-of the lbarx5 Eand the door18 with the socket 26 and abutmentrespectively '611- ables fCflt-lflG:GIDPlOYmeDUOf a coiled spring.ofgreat'er length-than the springs heretofore used for this .purposevherebya spring of greater strength :can be utllized :tor the puryposeofnormally tending to maintain the door in closed position, whether thedoor he latched to or releasedi'rom-its latching means.

- kIn the tormshown provisionwis :made'vfor the employment-of a springor other-noon- .trollingspringtor the door which is of mate .rially.greater length-than the distance :bei-tweenthe side edge of the door andthe :bar

5 or the otherysideedge ofitheidoor .With-repect to the bar 6.

"A further ;=a,dvantage of providing the structure withgthesocket andabutment :is to allow'the' doorsto shift on the hinged-rod or =slat 7the'tull- :width ofithe' space between the doorand barb, thrisallowingthe'latch .30 to be longer than itwould :be without the use of thesocket and" abutment where-a coiled spring: is employed :tor rholding.t-he door in latche'd position. IThis is agparticular acti etage in Icofops where the: spacing :betwe'enthe slatsinrtlie-top must be closetojprevent chick =ens from putting their heads thi'oi'1gl1-,' .whi,chaccordingto shipping regulations rmust{not exceed one inch; The;proj,ecting}portion10f the member 30, thatiis'tosay -that part=ofmember 30 \which extends through the door opening 13 shou-ldibetromabout three quarters of :an inch to seven-eighths ofian inch-.- long toprevent accidentahopen'ng while the I Coopsrare@being'handled;

The :cutout 34 serves to prevent :the 1 door "from binding (on the hingeiI'Od. in-rcase "1 the 1(1001 WVELEpS,".Wll1l6II2L-t .thesame ztimeaitserves as a place to insert the finger between the door and slat 7 forthe purpose of shifting the door as heretofore mentioned.

It is well known that in boring an end opening in a door, the auger isnot started at one side edge and continued through to the other sideedge, due to the fact that if the auger was continued entirely through,the opening when completed would be at an inclination and not parallelto the transverse median of the door body. The end opening is formedby'st-arting the auger at one side edge and continuing for aportion ofthe width of the door, the auger is then removed and started from theother side edge and continued for the remaining port-ion of the width ofthe door, but in each operation the result is that the bores do notregister at their inner ends, as after boring from'each side the innerportions of the bores begin to incline thereby providing an openinghaving a wall which will bind against the hinge rod and impair thesliding action of or bind the door from movement. Further as the door ofthe coop is subjected to inclement weather it will warp and increase thebinding action on the rod. To overcome the foregoing objection thecutout 34 is provided and which removes the inner inclined portions ofthe bores whereby the remaining portions of the latter will be in truealignment and prevent any binding action of the walls of the bores onthe hinge rod when the door is shifted. Further in case the door becomeswarped, as the bores are in true alignment with each other he walls ofthe latter will not bind on the hinge rod.

It is thought the many advantages of a spring controlled, slidable,latchable, hinged door in accordance with this invention and for thepurpose set forth can be readily understood, and although the preferredembodiment of the invention is as illustrated and described, yet it isto be understood that changes in the details of construction can be hadwhich fall within the scope of the inention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a structure provided with means to form a rectangulardoor opening having a pair of sides and a pair of end Walls, ahorizontally slidable door for said opening, said door being of lesswidth and of greater length than the width and length respectively ofsaid opening, said door having a cutout at one end and a pair of spacedendwise aligning openings in proximity to said end communicating withsaid cutout, one of said end walls extending through said aligningopenings and across the cutout to hinge the door to said structure,-saiddoor at said ends having one corner cut away to provide an abutmentpositioned between the longitudinal median and one side edge of thedoor, one of said side walls formed with a socket opening towards and inalignment with said abutment, a spring mounted on said end wall andbearing against the base of the socket and said abutment, and said doorhaving its other end rabbeted for slidably mounting on said other endwall.

2. In combination, a structure provided with means to form a rectangulardoor opening having a pair of sides and a pair of end walls, ahorizontally slidable door for said opening, said door being of lesswidth and of greater length than the width and length respectively ofsaid opening, said door having a cutout at one end and a pair of spacedendwise aligning openings in proximity to said end communicating withsaid cutout, one of said end walls extending through said aligningopenings and across the cutout to hinge the door to said structure, saiddoor at said ends having one corner cut away to provide an abutmentpositioned between the longitudinal median and one side edge of thedoor, one of said side walls formed with a socket opening towards and inalignment with said abutment, a spring mounted on said end wall andbearing against the base of the socket and said abutment, said doorhaving its other end rabbeted for slidably mounting on said other endwall, and said door having a socket in proximity to its rabbeted end andopening at its other side edge to removably receive a latching memberprojecting from the other of said side walls.

3. A spring controlled door for the opening of a chicken coop comprisinga body portion of less width and of greater length than the width andlength respectively of the opening with which it is associated, saidbody portion having a cutout at one end and a pair of spaced, endwiseali ning openings in proximity to said end and communicating with saidcutout for the passage of means for hinging the door to the coop.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto.

osn r. CARPENTER.

